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OPINION: Ottawa is spending billions on defence while leaving our critical infrastructure undefended

Opinion | By Jason Presement

Published in The Wire Report, February 20, 2026

As Canada commits five per cent of GDP to defence spending, it risks leaving the physical infrastructure that powers our daily lives exposed to anyone with a backhoe, bolt cutters, or bad intentions. 

We’ve heard it too many times; thieves cut through what they thought was valuable copper cable only to find it was fibre. It may be worthless to them, but it takes down internet service for thousands and can sever data links between critical systems or data centres. 

Fibre cuts can be caused by theft, construction accidents, or deliberate sabotage, but the framing is always the same — we treat it as a telecom problem, when it’s actually a national security problem. 

Last year, Canada committed to NATO’s Defence Investment Pledge — five per cent of GDP by 2035, with 1.5 per cent earmarked for “critical defence and security-related expenditure,” including telecommunications, emergency preparedness, and dual-use infrastructure. The goal is to build capacity in artificial intelligence, cyber, quantum, and space through “modern and secure digital infrastructure.” 

Canada’s recently-announced defence industrial strategy reinforces this commitment, as Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that “a strong defence industry is essential to our national security and economic prosperity.” 

But that strategy overlooks one important thing. 

The most sophisticated defence capabilities mean nothing when someone can physically cut the fibre that carries military communication, disrupt the power grid feeding critical systems, or interrupt communication between them. Right now, fibre cable spanning hundreds of thousands of kilometres runs alongside powerlines, water mains, and wireless towers, but it sits unprotected.

For example, Bell operates over 240,000 kilometres of fibre in Canada. Meanwhile, there are 73,000 kilometres of federally regulated pipelines, 430,000 kilometres of power transmission lines, and over 13,000 wireless towers. At the moment, we’re vulnerable to tampering with fibre infrastructure, battery theft from tower sites, copper theft from substations, and damage to pipelines from unauthorized construction. 

Every kilometre is a potential point of failure, and we have almost no way to know when someone’s tampering with it until service goes dark. 

And, when a fibre line is cut, it almost always affects more than one service. The cascade starts with the loss of basic internet, as well as voice and entertainment applications, but then people can’t access ATMs, emergency services lose connectivity, and the cloud goes dark. 

Now, imagine a deliberate and coordinated attack on multiple infrastructure points. Not only is it possible, but we have no early warning system in place.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has identified 10 critical infrastructure sectors at risk from cyber threats, including energy, utilities, ICT, government, water, and transportation, but their guidance focuses on digital security while the physical infrastructure remains wide open. 

Digital security is important, but you can’t cyber-secure a water main that someone just cracked with an excavator. 

What we’re missing is the opportunity to use fibre for more than just connectivity. 

The fibre we’ve already buried for communications can double as a security system. Fibre sensing technology turns those cables into a nervous system — detecting intrusions, damage, and service disruptions in real time. It can identify vibrations from digging, leaks along pipelines, unauthorized access to substations, and tampering with fibre assets.  

In effect, the infrastructure we built for connectivity can also become the infrastructure that protects itself. 

Other countries have already acted. The U.K.’s defence ministry and major telecom providers have experimented with Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) systems in the North Atlantic and North Sea to monitor subsea infrastructure, including fibre-optic and power cables. The U.K. was also among the first countries to publicly acknowledge DAS as part of its homeland defence and cable protection strategy. 

Meanwhile, the European Union’s Horizon 2026 Program has allocated additional funding for fibre-optic sensing to protect critical infrastructure

The technology exists and is already being deployed in some regions to protect critical data centre interconnect fibre, and for border security and pipeline monitoring. It’s not a science project. What we haven’t done is treat our domestic fibre networks as the sovereign security assets they actually are. 

Canada’s NATO funding should mandate fibre sensing on critical routes, like key power corridors, long-haul fibre routes, and subsea landing stations. The same level of perimeter security being deployed at land borders should protect wireless tower sites and water treatment plants. If we’re installing new fire for broadband expansion, it should be instrumented and mandated for dual use from day one. 

If we’re serious about digital sovereignty and our NATO commitments, we have to stop treating fibre infrastructure as a sunk cost of connectivity. It’s a sovereign, instrumented security asset — but only if we fund it and protect it that way. 

The question isn’t whether we can afford to do it, but whether we can afford not to. 

Broadband / Telco

2026 Canadian Telecommunications Market Report - serves as a comprehensive strategic analysis issued by the CRTC to evaluate the health, performance, and competitive landscape of Canada’s digital infrastructure.

Here are some stats, comments and insights gleaned from the data:

Broadband Market Overview

• There were 17.1 million retail fixed Internet subscribers in Canada in 2024.

• The industry is at an inflection point where revenue and subscriber growth are slowing, while wired and wireless networks now reach virtually the entire population.

• Incumbent telephone companies (ILECs) are gaining revenue share (now 45.6%) at the expense of cable-based carriers (40.0%), largely due to aggressive fibre-to-the-home deployment. I

• Independent wholesale-based providers have seen their subscriber share plummet from 8.4% in 2020 to 4.2% in 2024. How’s that competition thing going?

• The Canadian telecommunications sector generated $59.6 billion in total revenue in 2024, representing 0% growth from the previous year.

• Operators have invested $64.4 billion cumulatively since 2020, but annual capital expenditure (CAPEX) fell to $12.7 billion in 2024 as major fibre and 5G rollouts matured.

• 96.4% of all Canadian households have access to the target speed of 50/10 Mbps with unlimited data. A 2016 definition that will need to change.

• While urban coverage is near universal, access to 50/10 Mbps speeds is lower in rural areas (83.0%), the Territories (69.6%), and First Nations reserves (65.7%).

• 71.7% of households are covered by a fibre-to-the-home network. In rural and remote regions, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and satellite services account for 7.5% of all residential subscriptions.

• Access to 50/10 Mbps in rural areas has climbed significantly to 83.0%, up from 54.4% in 2020.

• The national median download speed is 250.4 Mbps, while the median in rural areas is 129.3 Mbps.

• Nearly 90% of households have access to gigabit-speed service, and 31.5% of Canadians have already subscribed to these high-speed plans.

• The average residential subscriber now consumes 585.5 GB of data per month, a figure that grows by more than 10% annually.

• While general inflation (CPI) rose 19% since 2021, the Internet access price index fell by 6% during the same period. Meanwhile, major players have announced new price increases.

Mobile Wireless Statistics & Insights

• Total mobile subscribers reached 37.7 million in 2024.

• 5G networks now reach 94.3% of the population, though coverage still lags in rural areas (75.2%) and First Nations reserves (52.2%).

• The average monthly mobile data usage per subscriber has more than doubled since 2020, reaching 8.8 GB.

• More than half of all subscribers (56.1%) are now on plans with 50 GB or more of data, compared to just 5.2% in 2020.

• The mobile service price index has fallen nearly 40% since early 2021.

• The Top 3 operators earn an average of $4.50 per GB from their subscribers. Interesting stat.

Reliability and Consumer Sentiment

• Net Promoter Scores (NPS) - Subscriber likelihood of recommending their provider has declined, with Internet providers at -5.3 and mobile providers at 3.7. Those are not good numbers.

• Secondary "flanker" brands owned by major carriers consistently report significantly higher NPS than their parent brands. Why is that?

• When asked, "I can count on a reliable high-speed network where I live,” 59.5% of Canadians feel they can count on a reliable high-speed network where they live; however, this drops to 53.8% in rural areas. Remember, reliability is the new speed!

• In Spring 2025, 13.9% of respondents reported experiencing a home Internet outage of 24 hours or longer.

My Take:  A couple of final points.

How do you like that -5.3 NPS? Seems there's room for improvement..

Having said all of that, the industry is at an inflection point where revenue and subscriber growth are slowing, while wired and wireless networks now reach virtually the entire population. Third-party wholesale is ½ of what it was 4 years earlier.

There are still pockets, but finding areas where copper needs a fiber player is a complex process of analyzing multiple layers of overlapping data.

It should be noted that residential and commercial statistics are not reported separately. To that end, "revenue and subscriber growth are slowing" pertains to residential subscribers.

💡 To that end, the real insight is that the commercial opportunity is the growth engine! Are traditional B2C SPs tooled up to build the B2B business they will clearly need to grow ARPU and thrive?

→ Take a peek at Connected but Underserved: How Service Providers Win the SMB Market and reach out to chat about market strategies.

Is cable approaching a tipping point on PON? - Cable ops are going with FTTP in most greenfield buildouts, but a new report from cable industry vet Jay Rolls suggests that some operators are pivoting to fiber in legacy HFC areas, too.

My Take: “The analysis touches on several areas, including the operational and capital costs, return on investment, competitive positioning and the long-term value of fiber upgrades. Notably, Rolls' analysis suggests that the capital spent to complete a DOCSIS 4.0 overhaul can be comparable to an FTTP rebuild, and can cost even more in some instances.“ Maybe it's time to take it out back and shoot it.

Starlink available with Zayo - Architecting Resilience Beyond Physical Networks - Ensuring uninterrupted network operations through satellite-backed connectivity when terrestrial infrastructure is disrupted, unavailable, or compromised.

My Take: Add another forward-thinking provider who understands that non-terrestrial isn’t the enemy. I heard today from someone who attended one of the recent shows in the US that smaller US ISPs are concerned about Amazon Leo. They probably should be at some level, although these are the same people who say that Fiber is king. They should embrace Amazon Leo and figure out how to work with them, not against them - just like Zayo, BT and others

🇨🇦 Canada’s New Telecom Rules Could Trip Up Starlink: Starlink Canada Regulation Challenges Loom - A new set of telecom regulations and consultations is now posing a known risk: Starlink may once more be blocked, not because the satellites malfunction, but rather because the documentation and policy reasoning are inconsistent.

My Take: Starlink Canada Regulation? What? I think that has to do with Starlink’s uniform national pricing model vs. region-targeted subsidy programs in far north areas - and their inability or unwillingness to play ball.

Broadband Prices Down 7% to 9% in Past Two Years, Phoenix Center Study Says - A new Phoenix Center analysis claimed broadband prices fell in real terms from 2024 through 2025, disputing a recent Benton Foundation report that found an increase.

My Take: Bundled prices? Advertised prices? Real prices? Pricing is pretty central to policy debates.

Why Performance Testing is so Critical for BEAD-funded LEO Projects - Performance testing is one of the few tools available to validate LEO service obligations, so states need to understand what has changed in the guidance, what remains non‑negotiable, and where contradictions in NTIA’s guidance may create challenges during deployment and closeout.

My Take: If satellite broadband is going to compete for public infrastructure funding, it needs to meet public infrastructure standards. Peak speed claims aren’t enough. What matters is consistent performance when everyone is online. .

New Device From Starlink Rival Taara Promises 25Gbps Internet Using Light - Taara, a startup that graduated from Alphabet’s moonshot factory, has slimmed down its technology, which uses near-infrared light to bring high-speed internet to remote areas.

My Take: I don't see how this is a Starlink rival. Many companies in this space, it seems, all have claims and value props. The proof will ultimately be in the pudding. It’s a great solution with many possible applications.

ADT Buys Origin AI: What It Means for ISPs and the Future of Wi-Fi Sensing - Origin AI pioneered commercial Wi-Fi sensing, using changes in RF signals to detect motion and presence without cameras, wearables, or dedicated motion sensors. For ADT, the deal strengthens its position in a market increasingly defined by contextual intelligence rather than standalone devices. For ISPs, however, the implications are more complicated.

My Take: Is WiFi sensing still a thing? Was it ever a thing? Will it be a thing?

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, TIM and Vodafone achieve pan-European federated Edge Continuum - The European Edge Continuum enables customers and developers to deploy applications automatically and securely across nodes from different operators, with the potential to include other major technology players in the future.

My Take: This gives them the scale they couldn’t achieve on their own. This also strengthens Europe’s digital sovereignty. Instead of relying only on large U.S. cloud providers, European telecoms are building their own distributed edge infrastructure. I wonder how they coordinated all of that, who manages it and if they have some sort of automated orchestration layer - or if this is a push to develop orchestration and automation standards.

QUICK HITS:

• Rogers lays off part of in-house IT support team

• What Toronto Tech Week Reveals About Capital, Talent And Execution

• HPE touts latest Juniper routers to provide ‘full-stack’ for AI

• Nokia and AWS trial agentic AI network slicing with Orange and du

• Exclusive: T-Mobile’s John Saw explains kinetic tokens and why they matter in 6G
  
  

Regulatory Updates

CANADA (2026-02-19 to 2026-02-25)

UNITED STATES (2026-02-19 to 2026-02-25)

UNITED KINGDOM (2026-02-19 to 2026-02-25)

Fiber Optic Sensing

Unlocking global AI potential with next-generation subsea infrastructure - Today, we’re announcing our most ambitious subsea cable endeavor yet: Project Waterworth. Once complete, the project will reach five major continents and span over 50,000 km (longer than the Earth’s circumference), making it the world’s longest subsea cable project using the highest-capacity technology available. 

My Take: Ok, not really a fiber sensing story, but this is a huge proposed network, and one would think the additional investment by Meta to protect the fiber by detecting events that could cause harm would pale in comparison to the cost of hauling out the cable and repairing it. Maybe Zuck is seeing this, and he’ll think about it. Maybe they’ve already built it into their plans.

What’s Happening In Space?

🇨🇦 Lobby Wrap: Terrestar wants to talk about replacing the need for foreign satellite technology - Terrestar wants to work with the federal government to replace the need for foreign satellite technology and spectrum allocation, while advancing national sovereignty and domestic infrastructure, Arctic security, a renewed commitment to rural and northern connectivity and ultimately advancing and investing in satellite technology and made-in-Canada innovations.

My Take: As satellite networks become essential infrastructure, Canada will need to choose whether it wants access to space services or ownership of them. Sovereign, secure and all of that.

Iridium Releases Tiny IoT Module Combining Sat, Cell, and GNSS - Iridium has made a further move in the IoT market, launching a new IoT module that integrates Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) satellite service, LTE-M cellular connectivity, and GNSS positioning into a single platform. This new solution, Iridium 9604, aims to reduce solution complexity, lower costs, and accelerate time to market.

My Take: Satellite connectivity, cellular capability and GNSS (GPS positioning) into one compact unit.  This is where things are headed - seamless, hybrid and built in from day one. The future of IoT is not choosing between satellite and cellular. It’s having both, automatically, without the user even thinking about it!

SpaceX's Cellular Starlink Aims for Speeds That Reach 150Mbps Per User - “We are aiming at peak speeds of 150Mbps per user,” SpaceX satellite policy lead Udrivolf Pica said at the International Telecommunication Union's Space Connect conference. “So something incredible if you think about the link budgets from space to the mobile phone.”

My Take: If Starlink can truly deliver triple-digit speeds straight to smartphones, mobile coverage changes overnight. But space bandwidth isn't unlimited. The real test isn’t the headline speed, it’s whether the network is available when its needed and can handle millions of users at once without slowing down.

Russia has announced the launch of its own Starlink equivalent in spring 2026 — experts are skeptical - The launch of Russia’s low-Earth orbit satellite communications constellation “Rassvet,” developed by the company Bureau 1440, is scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. Russian media reported this, citing a statement by Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev.

My Take: This announcement shows how strategic satellite internet has become. Every major power now wants its own version of Starlink. But space infrastructure is expensive and complex. “It had envisioned 156 satellites in 2026, 292 in 2027, and 318 in 2028. Commercial operation is not expected before 2027, when around 250 satellites are projected to be in orbit.”

Sophia Space raises $10M to accelerate creation of orbital computing systems - Sophia Space says it has closed a $10 million seed financing round to accelerate the development of orbital computing systems that could serve as the foundation for space-based data processing.-

My Take: Yet another space-based data centre or compute play. This one is interesting from an architectural standpoint. The startup calls its modular system TILE (Thermal-Integrated LEO Edge), which uses solar power and passive cooling to run in orbit. How many of these do we need? Watch the explainer video.

Amazon Unveils Waitlist for Its New Home Internet Service, Poised for 2026 Launch - Amazon has opened a public waitlist for its new home internet service, dubbed Amazon Leo.

My Take: It’s actually more of a “keep me updated” opt-in list that asks for high-level location data. Of course I signed up!

The Coming Wave of Competition in LEO Constellations - After years of Starlink holding a commanding lead in LEO broadband, analysts and industry experts see a shift in the constellation race. Aggressive launch schedules for new services, differentiated offerings, and geopolitics are all driving greater competition in an expanding market.

My Take: LEO broadband is moving from a monopoly to a competitive marketplace. Connectivity from space is becoming (or should become) core infrastructure, not a niche service. The winners won’t just launch the most satellites. They’ll build the most trusted, scalable and financially sustainable networks that don’t have a big off button.

UK connects first mobile network to Elon Musk's Starlink satellites - When traditional services like 4G aren't available, customers on the network will now automatically connect to Elon Musk's Starlink satellites.

My Take:

QUICK HITS:

• Starlink, China and the governance of low Earth orbit

• Globe turns to Starlink to fortify network against disaster risks

• Iridium launched LEO satellites long before SpaceX made it ‘cool’

• Orbital space race heats up in Arctic north

• Bufferbloat & QoO Test

• Rogers Satellite Transforming IoT Connectivity for Asset and Fleet Management Technology 

• 🇨🇦 The push to create a Canadian rival to GPS

Data Centres

🇨🇦 Hydro-Québec proposes a rate of 13¢/kWh for data centers - Hydro-Québec has officially proposed a new rate for large data centers, set at 13 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is about double the price currently paid by customers on the high-power rate.

My Take: Only applies to >5MW data centres. The utility and the Quebec government argue that this enhanced rate ensures that energy-intensive sectors help cover infrastructure costs and don’t indirectly burden other ratepayers. 

Silicon Valley is building a shadow power grid for data centers across the U.S. - Tech companies are building data centers with their own private power plants, a risky bet that will increase carbon emissions and other pollution.

My Take: ‘Shadow Power’ is a fancy way of saying that data center operators are building their own power generation with natural gas, etc. The concern is a possible increase in emissions if fossil fuels are used where they wouldn't be used otherwise

Enabling AI

What are you doing with AI?

There are so many people watching videos, taking courses and consuming tutorials, but most aren't actually using the tools or trying to build anything.

That's called information bias. It’s the tendency to seek more data even when it won't change your decision.

Gathering data feels productive, so people just keep on collecting. But you have to DO, not just collect. Find a use case and play. “Execution brings clarity.”

As a tinkerer, I play with tools, watch YouTube videos, and ask AI how things work, but until there’s a great use case, it's all just theory.

I started with ChatGPT, of course, but now I use Zapier, Perplexity, Gamma, NotebookLM - and more importantly, Claude.AI

I spent some time last weekend working on a problem. I wanted to get summary notes from Granola (note taker) into OnePageCRM (the CRM I use). I wanted it to be as simple as telling Claude to update my contacts based on my calls today.

The end result is just that. One command. Automated workflow across two different applications that don’tt have any native connectors.

The Regulatory section of this newsletter is a completely automated process that runs at 6 a.m. every day. It still needs tuning, but it's hands-off and was built completely in Claude Code.

I built an external test website in literally 10 minutes and made changes to it just as easily.

There are so many opportunities to build highly integrated workflows and applications for process automation, productivity, marketing, business, and more. But make sure to live by the “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” mantra, or you may spend time playing with tools to build something that does nothing.

If you want to chat about AI tools and how you’re using them, let’s chat!

About 12% of US teens turn to AI for emotional support or advice - While the most common uses of AI among this demographic include searching for information (57%) and getting help with schoolwork (54%), teens are also using AI to fill roles that would typically be occupied by friends or family. Sixteen percent of U.S. teens say they use AI for casual conversation, while 12% use AI chatbots for emotional support or advice.

My Take: This is where heavy regulation is required. Chatbots aren’t meant for therapy, and experts are worried about serious psychological effects in extreme cases.

🇨🇦 Bell and Hypertec partner to strengthen Canada's sovereign AI ecosystem - Bell and Hypertec have entered a strategic partnership to deliver end-to-end sovereign AI capabilities, combining Canadian-built infrastructure with Canadian-hosted data centre services. The partnership expands secure, scalable access to advanced AI compute for public sector, enterprise and research customers.

My Take: This doesn't necessarily mean faster; it means safer, locally controlled AI that government and business can trust. Secure and Sovereign.

How AI agents could destroy the economy - On Sunday, an analyst group called Citrini Research published a remarkable piece illustrating how agentic AI could bring on mass economic destruction over the next two years. The scenario imagines a report from two years in the future, in which unemployment has doubled, and the total value of the stock market has fallen by more than a third. As the report puts it:

My Take: Anyone tracking cybersecurity stock prices lately? 😉 Link to the ‘remarkable piece in the link above

Tech firms are selling AI tools to save developers from the worst of vibe coding - Tech firms are pitching AI-powered services to ensure that AI-generated code is reliable and useful as tools like Claude Code take over software development.

My Take: So I understand, they’re selling AI to fix AI? Why not just hire software engineers who have been let go, rather than rely on tools that generate code that now needs AI to audit?

QUICK HITS:

• Gemini 3.1 Pro: A smarter model for your most complex tasks

• Why AI’s next phase will likely demand more computational power, not less

• OpenAI says China's DeepSeek trained its AI by distilling US models, memo shows

• Jack Dorsey’s Block to Lay Off 40% of Its Workforce in AI Remake

This and That!

Power System Fundamentals - The first three chapters provide a basic overview of single-phase and polyphase power system concepts. Subsequent chapters address various data sources for analytics, including smart meters, synchronized measurements, power quality meters, and management systems.

My Take: Great reference piece, depending on how much detail you want to consume. It gets into some gory details that bring back calculus and vector algebra nightmares ;)

Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras - people across the United States are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras, amid rising public anger that the license plate readers aid U.S. immigration authorities and deportations.

My Take: Maybe they should do what they did in Toronto when people were destroying the traffic speed cameras - put up new cameras to surveil them. 🙄

James Webb telescope spots giant auroras rolling through Uranus' atmosphere - JWST observed Uranus for nearly a full rotation, charting the planet's upper atmosphere and magnetic environment for the first time.

My Take: We all know that my 12-year old brain can’t pass up a good story about Uranus. Did you know that Uranus' magnetic field is unique among the big planets of our solar system? Its magnetic pole is tilted by 60 degrees relative to its geographic pole. That tilt produces auroras that extend far beyond its poles, unlike auroras on Earth.

Infographic Of The Week

My Take: “Rabies has a near-100% fatality rate once symptoms develop, though infections are largely preventable with early treatment. Most of the world’s deadliest viruses originate in animals, including bats, rodents, camels, and birds.”

Surprised that Country Music didn’t make the list. Ha.

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

IMDb: 6.6/10

JMDb: 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿/10 (It was good background noise)

“Fly Me to the Moon” is a glossy, overlong throwback that never quite lands on what it wants to be: screwball romance, political satire, or space-race drama.

Scarlett Johansson is terrific as Kelly, a shape-shifting ad whiz hired to rehabilitate NASA’s image and secretly stage a fake Apollo 11 broadcast, and the film is at its best when she’s hustling rooms full of doubters.

Channing Tatum’s stiff, guilt-ridden launch director makes a decent foil, but their supposed chemistry flickers instead of blazing, undercut by writing that keeps changing tone mid-scene.

The premise is catnip—spin doctors, conspiracy bait, and real history colliding—yet Greg Berlanti stretches it to a numbing 132 minutes, piling on endings until the fun leaks out.

Pleasant enough as retro comfort food, it’s a movie you enjoy scene by scene, then forget the moment you re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.

NOTE: I always thought that Sudbury, ON was the place they used to fake the moon landing 🙂 Sudbury was a stand-in for the moon and other little-known (Canadian) things about the Apollo program

Until Next Time

Jason’s Industry Insights is produced by Verity Aptus.

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